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Guan Zhu

Guan Zhu

Professor Emeritus Department of Veterinary Pathobiology
Contact
GZhu@cvm.tamu.edu
9798456981
TAMU Mailstop: 4467

Research and Scholarly Interests

Our laboratory conducts translational research with an ultimate goal to discover new anti-parasitic therapeutics by targeting metabolic enzymes and other molecules critical or essential to the parasite infection, survival and development, such as those involved in the lipid and energy metabolisms and interacting with host cells in Cryptosporidium and other protozoan parasites. Other research areas include functional genomics and molecular evolution of apicomplexan parasites, and parasitic diseases important to the conservation of wild animals. Please also see additional lab information at http://www.guanzhulab.com .

Education

  • B.S., Zhejiang (formerly Hangzhou) University, China, 1983
  • M.S., Zhejiang (formerly Hangzhou) University, China, 1986
  • Ph.D., University of Georgia, 1993
  • Genomics
  • Infectious Disease
  • Parasitology
  • Microbiology
  • Biodefense
  • Zhu G, Keithly JS (2002). Alpha-proteobacterial relationship of apicomplexan lactate and malate dehydrogenases. J EUKARYOT MICROBIOL. 3, 255-61
  • Zhu G, Chen HW (2004). Monophyletic relationship between severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus and group 2 coronaviruses. J INFECT DIS. 9, 1676-8
  • Cai X, Fuller AL, McDougald LR, Zhu G (2003). Apicoplast genome of the coccidian Eimeria tenella. GENE. 321, 39-46
  • Zhang H, Guo F, Zhou H, Zhu G (2012). Transcriptome analysis reveals unique metabolic features in the Cryptosporidium parvum Oocysts associated with environmental survival and stresses. BMC GENOMICS. 13, 647
  • Zhu G, Shi X, Cai X (2010). The reductase domain in a Type I fatty acid synthase from the apicomplexan Cryptosporidium parvum: restricted substrate preference towards very long chain fatty acyl thioesters. BMC BIOCHEM. 11, 46
  • Rider SD Jr, Zhu G (2010). Cryptosporidium: genomic and biochemical features. EXP PARASITOL. 1, 2-9
  • Rider SD Jr, Zhu G (2008). Differential expression of the two distinct replication protein A subunits from Cryptosporidium parvum. J CELL BIOCHEM. 6, 2207-16
  • Fritzler JM, Millership JJ, Zhu G (2007). Cryptosporidium parvum long-chain fatty acid elongase. EUKARYOT CELL. 11, 2018-28
  • Cai X, Lorraine Fuller A, McDougald LR, Tan X, Cai J, Wang F, Sacchettini JC, Zhu G (2007). Biochemical characterization of enoyl reductase involved in Type II fatty acid synthesis in the intestinal coccidium Eimeria tenella (Phylum Apicomplexa). FEMS MICROBIOL LETT. 2, 238-44
  • Fritzler JM, Zhu G (2007). Functional characterization of the acyl-[acyl carrier protein] ligase in the Cryptosporidium parvum giant polyketide synthase. INT J PARASITOL. 3-4, 307-16
  • Zhu G (2004). Current progress in the fatty acid metabolism in Cryptosporidium parvum. J EUKARYOT MICROBIOL. 4, 381-8
  • Millership JJ, Cai X, Zhu G (2004). Functional characterization of replication protein A2 (RPA2) from Cryptosporidium parvum. MICROBIOLOGY. Pt 5, 1197-205
  • Cai X, Lancto CA, Abrahamsen MS, Zhu G (2004). Intron-containing beta-tubulin transcripts in Cryptosporidium parvum cultured in vitro. MICROBIOLOGY. Pt 5, 1191-5
  • Cai X, Woods KM, Upton SJ, Zhu G (2005). Application of quantitative real-time reverse transcription-PCR in assessing drug efficacy against the intracellular pathogen Cryptosporidium parvum in vitro. ANTIMICROB AGENTS CHEMOTHER. 11, 4437-42
  • Rider SD Jr, Cai X, Sullivan WJ Jr, Smith AT, Radke J, White M, Zhu G (2005). The protozoan parasite Cryptosporidium parvum possesses two functionally and evolutionarily divergent replication protein A large subunits. J BIOL CHEM. 36, 31460-9
  • Cai X, Herschap D, Zhu G (2005). Functional characterization of an evolutionarily distinct phosphopantetheinyl transferase in the apicomplexan Cryptosporidium parvum. EUKARYOT CELL. 7, 1211-20
  • Millership JJ, Waghela P, Cai X, Cockerham A, Zhu G (2004). Differential expression and interaction of transcription co-activator MBF1 with TATA-binding protein (TBP) in the apicomplexan Cryptosporidium parvum. MICROBIOLOGY. Pt 5, 1207-13
  • Weaver EA, Collisson EW, Slater M, Zhu G (2004). Phylogenetic analyses of Texas isolates indicate an evolving subtype of the clade B feline immunodeficiency viruses. J VIROL. 4, 2158-63
  • Zhu G, Li Y, Cai X, Millership JJ, Marchewka MJ, Keithly JS (2004). Expression and functional characterization of a giant Type I fatty acid synthase (CpFAS1) gene from Cryptosporidium parvum. MOL BIOCHEM PARASITOL. 1, 127-35
  • Zhu G, LaGier MJ, Stejskal F, Millership JJ, Cai X, Keithly JS (2002). Cryptosporidium parvum: the first protist known to encode a putative polyketide synthase. GENE. 1, 79-89
  • Millership JJ, Zhu G (2002). Heterogeneous expression and functional analysis of two distinct replication protein A large subunits from Cryptosporidium parvum. INT J PARASITOL. 12, 1477-85
  • Thompson RC, Olson ME, Zhu G, Enomoto S, Abrahamsen MS, Hijjawi NS (2005). Cryptosporidium and cryptosporidiosis. ADV PARASITOL. 59, 77-158
  • Lei C, Rider SD Jr, Wang C, Zhang H, Tan X, Zhu G (2010). The apicomplexan Cryptosporidium parvum possesses a single mitochondrial-type ferredoxin and ferredoxin:NADP+ reductase system. PROTEIN SCI. 11, 2073-84
  • Templeton TJ, Enomoto S, Chen WJ, Huang CG, Lancto CA, Abrahamsen MS, Zhu G (2010). A genome-sequence survey for Ascogregarina taiwanensis supports evolutionary affiliation but metabolic diversity between a Gregarine and Cryptosporidium. MOL BIOL EVOL. 2, 235-48
  • Rider SD Jr, Zhu G (2010). Cryptosporidium: genomic and biochemical features. EXP PARASITOL. 1, 2-9
  • Rider SD Jr, Zhu G (2009). An apicomplexan ankyrin-repeat histone deacetylase with relatives in photosynthetic eukaryotes. INT J PARASITOL. 7, 747-54
  • Fritzler JM, Zhu G (2012). Novel anti-Cryptosporidium activity of known drugs identified by high-throughput screening against parasite fatty acyl-CoA binding protein (ACBP). J ANTIMICROB CHEMOTHER. 3, 609-17
  • Fritzler JM, Craig TM, Elgayar A, Plummer C, Wilson RS, Peterson MJ, Zhu G (2011). A new eimeriid (Apicomplexa) species from endangered Attwater's prairie chickens (Tympanuchus cupido attwateri) in Texas. J PARASITOL. 4, 671-5
  • Ctrnáctá V, Fritzler JM, Surinová M, Hrdý I, Zhu G, Stejskal F (2010). Efficacy of S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase inhibitors, D-eritadenine and (S)-DHPA, against the growth of Cryptosporidium parvum in vitro. EXP PARASITOL. 2, 113-6
  • Yu Y, Zhang H, Zhu G (2010). Plant-type trehalose synthetic pathway in cryptosporidium and some other apicomplexans. PLOS ONE. 9,
  • Chen XM, O'Hara SP, Huang BQ, Nelson JB, Lin JJ, Zhu G, Ward HD, LaRusso NF (2004). Apical organelle discharge by Cryptosporidium parvum is temperature, cytoskeleton, and intracellular calcium dependent and required for host cell invasion. INFECT IMMUN. 12, 6806-16
  • Abrahamsen MS, Templeton TJ, Enomoto S, Abrahante JE, Zhu G, Lancto CA, Deng M, Liu C, Widmer G, Tzipori S, Buck GA, Xu P, Bankier AT, Dear PH, Konfortov BA, Spriggs HF, Iyer L, Anantharaman V, Aravind L, Kapur V (2004). Complete genome sequence of the apicomplexan, Cryptosporidium parvum. SCIENCE. 5669, 441-5
  • LaGier MJ, Keithly JS, Zhu G (2002). Characterisation of a novel transporter from Cryptosporidium parvum. INT J PARASITOL. 7, 877-87
  • Zhu G, LaGier MJ, Hirose S, Keithly JS (2000). Cryptosporidium parvum: functional complementation of a parasite transcriptional coactivator CpMBF1 in yeast. EXP PARASITOL. 4, 195-201
  • Zhu G, Marchewka MJ, Keithly JS (2000). Cryptosporidium parvum appears to lack a plastid genome. MICROBIOLOGY. 146, 315-21
  • Yu X, Yu H, Kong L, Guo F, Zhu G, Li Q (2014). Molecular cloning and differential expression in tissues of a tyrosinase gene in the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas. MOL BIOL REP. 8, 5403-11
  • Rotte C, Stejskal F, Zhu G, Keithly JS, Martin W (2001). Pyruvate : NADP+ oxidoreductase from the mitochondrion of Euglena gracilis and from the apicomplexan Cryptosporidium parvum: a biochemical relic linking pyruvate metabolism in mitochondriate and amitochondriate protists. MOL BIOL EVOL. 5, 710-20
  • Sun M, Zhu G, Qin Z, Wu C, Lv M, Liao S, Qi N, Xie M, Cai J (2012). Functional characterizations of malonyl-CoA:acyl carrier protein transacylase (MCAT) in Eimeria tenella. MOL BIOCHEM PARASITOL. 1, 20-8
  • Zhu LY, Nie L, Zhu G, Xiang LX, Shao JZ (2012). Advances in research of fish immune-relevant genes: a comparative overview of innate and adaptive immunity in teleosts. DEV COMP IMMUNOL. 1-2, 39-62
  • Madern D, Cai X, Abrahamsen MS, Zhu G (2004). Evolution of Cryptosporidium parvum lactate dehydrogenase from malate dehydrogenase by a very recent event of gene duplication. MOL BIOL EVOL. 3, 489-97
  • Guo F, Zhu G (2012). Presence and removal of a contaminating NADH oxidation activity in recombinant maltose-binding protein fusion proteins expressed in Escherichia coli. BIOTECHNIQUES. 4, 247-53
  • LaGier MJ, Zhu G, Keithly JS (2001). Characterization of a heavy metal ATPase from the apicomplexan Cryptosporidium parvum. GENE. 1-2, 25-34
  • Zhu G, Keithly JS, Philippe H (2000). What is the phylogenetic position of Cryptosporidium? INT J SYST EVOL MICROBIOL. Pt 4, 1673-81
  • Zhu G, Marchewka MJ, Woods KM, Upton SJ, Keithly JS (2000). Molecular analysis of a Type I fatty acid synthase in Cryptosporidium parvum. MOL BIOCHEM PARASITOL. 2, 253-60
  • Xiang L, Guo F, Zhang H, LaCoste L, Rollins D, Bruno A, Fedynich AM, Zhu G (2013). Gene discovery, evolutionary affinity and molecular detection of Oxyspirura petrowi, an eye worm parasite of game birds. BMC MICROBIOL. 13, 233
  • Hostetler HA, Syler LR, Hall LN, Zhu G, Schroeder F, Kier AB (2008). A novel high-throughput screening assay for putative antidiabetic agents through PPARalpha interactions. J BIOMOL SCREEN. 9, 855-61
  • Zeng B, Zhu G (2006). Two distinct oxysterol binding protein-related proteins in the parasitic protist Cryptosporidium parvum (Apicomplexa). BIOCHEM BIOPHYS RES COMMUN. 2, 591-99
  • Yu Y, Zhang H, Guo F, Sun M, Zhu G (2014). A Unique Hexokinase in Cryptosporidium parvum, an Apicomplexan Pathogen Lacking the Krebs Cycle and Oxidative Phosphorylation. PROTIST. 5, 701-714
  • Hu G, Gong AY, Roth AL, Huang BQ, Ward HD, Zhu G, Larusso NF, Hanson ND, Chen XM (2013). Release of luminal exosomes contributes to TLR4-mediated epithelial antimicrobial defense. PLOS PATHOG. 4,
  • Dong WR, Sun CC, Zhu G, Hu SH, Xiang LX, Shao JZ (2014). New function for Escherichia coli xanthosine phophorylase (xapA): genetic and biochemical evidences on its participation in NAD(+) salvage from nicotinamide. BMC MICROBIOL. 14, 29
  • Zhang M, Yan L, Zhu G, Holifield M, Todd D, Zhang S (2013). Streptococcus troglodytidis sp. nov., isolated from a foot abscess of a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). INT J SYST EVOL MICROBIOL. Pt 2, 449-53
  • Guo A, Cai J, Gong W, Yan H, Luo X, Tian G, Zhang S, Zhang H, Zhu G, Cai X (2013). Transcriptome analysis in chicken cecal epithelia upon infection by Eimeria tenella in vivo. PLOS ONE. 5,
  • Zhang H, Guo F, Zhu G (2012). Involvement of host cell integrin α2 in Cryptosporidium parvum infection. INFECT IMMUN. 5, 1753-8
  • Cook T, Roos D, Morada M, Zhu G, Keithly JS, Feagin JE, Wu G, Yarlett N (2007). Divergent polyamine metabolism in the Apicomplexa. MICROBIOLOGY. Pt 4, 1123-30
  • Zeng B, Cai X, Zhu G (2006). Functional characterization of a fatty acyl-CoA-binding protein (ACBP) from the apicomplexan Cryptosporidium parvum. MICROBIOLOGY. Pt 8, 2355-63
  • Checkley W, White AC Jr, Jaganath D, Arrowood MJ, Chalmers RM, Chen XM, Fayer R, Griffiths JK, Guerrant RL, Hedstrom L, Huston CD, Kotloff KL, Kang G, Mead JR, Miller M, Petri WA Jr, Priest JW, Roos DS, Striepen B, Thompson RC, Ward HD, Van Voorhis WA, Xiao L, Zhu G, Houpt ER (2014). A review of the global burden, novel diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccine targets for cryptosporidium. LANCET INFECT DIS.
  • Guo F, Zhang H, Fritzler JM, Rider SD Jr, Xiang L, McNair NN, Mead JR, Zhu G (2014). Amelioration of Cryptosporidium parvum infection in vitro and in vivo by targeting parasite fatty acyl-coenzyme A syntheses. J INFECT DIS. 8, 1279-87
  • Zhang H, Guo F & Zhu G (2015). Cryptosporidium Lactate Dehydrogenase Is Associated with the Parasitophorous Vacuole Membrane and Is a Potential Target for Developing Therapeutics PLOS PATHOGENS., e1005250
  • Guo F, Zhang H, Payne HR & Zhu G (2016). Differential Gene Expression and Protein Localization of Cryptosporidium parvum Fatty Acyl-CoA Synthetase Isoforms JOURNAL OF EUKARYOTIC MICROBIOLOGY., 233-46
  • He K, Wu Z, Wen JC, Xu B, Shao YK, Qian JM, Zhu G & Yao QY (2016). Silk Fibroin Scaffolds Facilitating the Repair of Rat Abdominal Wall Defect JOURNAL OF BIOMATERIALS AND TISSUE ENGINEERING., 665-71
  • Sun M, Liao S, Zhang L, Wu C, Qi N, Lv M, Li J, Lin X, Zhang J, Xie M, Zhu G & Cai J (2016). Molecular and biochemical characterization of Eimeria tenella hexokinase PARASITOLOGY RESEARCH., 3425-33
  • Guo F, Ortega-Pierres G, Argüello-García R, Zhang H, Zhu G (2015). Giardia fatty acyl-CoA synthetases as potential drug targets. FRONT. MICROBIOL..
  • Zhang H & Zhu G (2015). Quantitative RT-PCR assay for high-throughput screening (HTS) of drugs against the growth of Cryptosporidium parvum in vitro FRONTIER IN MICROBIOLOGY., 233-46

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